Display panel with integrated small cell and billboard with integrated macro site

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present disclosure are related to digital display devices and base stations such as small cell base stations, which may include at least one antenna and a radio. More specifically, digital display devices are being increasingly deployed in airports, along roads and highways, in shopping malls, in rural or highly urban areas where additional cellular coverage is desirable. These digital display devices provide desirable mounting locations for cellular equipment because they are already powered. One or more components of the base station may be concealed from view by a concealment device to satisfy aesthetic or design requirements. In some aspects, this concealment device may be a fabric radome. In some aspects, the concealment device may be the digital display device itself, because the digital display device is dimensioned such that at least some components of the base station may be hidden behind or within the digital display device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/469,695, filed Mar. 27, 2017, U.S. Pat. No.10,749,249, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/331,695, filed May 4, 2016, the entire contents of which areincorporated by reference herein for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to cellular communicationssystems, including distributed antenna systems, communications systemsthat include small cell radio base stations, and communication systemsthat include macro cell radio base stations.

Cellular communications systems are well known in the art. In a typicalcellular communications system, a geographic area may be divided into aseries of regions that are referred to as “cells,” and each cell isserved by a base station. Typically, a cell may serve users who arewithin a distance of, for example, 2-20 kilometers from the basestation, although smaller cells are typically used in urban areas toincrease capacity. The base station may include baseband equipment,radios and antennas that are configured to provide two-way radiofrequency (“RF”) communications with mobile subscribers that arepositioned throughout the cell. In many cases, the cell may be dividedinto a plurality of “sectors,” and separate antennas may providecoverage to each of the sectors. The antennas are often mounted on atower or other raised structure, with the radiation beam (“antennabeam”) that is generated by each antenna directed outwardly to serve arespective sector. Typically, a base station antenna includes one ormore phase-controlled arrays of radiating elements, with the radiatingelements arranged in one or more vertical columns when the antenna ismounted for use. Herein, “vertical” refers to a direction that isperpendicular relative to the plane defined by the horizon.

In order to increase capacity, cellular operators have, in recent years,been deploying so-called “small cell” cellular base stations. A smallcell base station refers to a low-power base station that may operate inthe licensed and/or unlicensed spectrum that has a much smaller rangethan a typical “macrocell” base station. A small cell base station maybe designed to serve users who are within short distances from the smallcell base station (e.g., tens or hundreds of meters). Small cells may beused, for example, to provide cellular coverage to high traffic areaswithin a macrocell, which allows the macrocell base station to offloadmuch or all of the traffic in the vicinity of the small cell to thesmall cell base station. Small cells may be particularly effective inLong Term Evolution (“LTE”) cellular networks in efficiently using theavailable frequency spectrum to maximize network capacity at areasonable cost. Small cell base stations typically employ an antennathat provides full 360 degree coverage in the azimuth plane and asuitable beamwidth in the elevation plane to cover the designed area ofthe small cell. In many cases, the small cell antenna will be designedto have a small downtilt in the elevation plane to reduce spill-over ofthe antenna beam of the small cell antenna into regions that are outsidethe small cell and also for reducing interference between the small celland the overlaid macro cell.

Cellular operators have also, in recent years, deployed distributedantenna systems (DAS) in which an overall transmitted power may bedistributed among several antenna elements which are separated in space.This may serve to improve reliability and usage of resources whilemaintaining a coverage area, in part because a line-of-sight channel maybe present more frequently.

SUMMARY

It has been recognized that some environments where small cells ordistributed antenna systems may be placed, such as airports, shoppingmalls, subway stations, and the like may have aesthetic or designconstraints that limit the placement of small cell equipment. Forexample, many locations within an airport terminal or shopping mall maybe sub-optimal to place an antenna for a small cell, either becauseplacement will result in poor service, or because placing the equipmentwill create an unappealing eyesore. For example, placing an antenna on aceiling may result in poor antenna performance. This may be because anamount of downtilt is too great, resulting in a smaller coverage areafor the small cell. Additionally or alternatively, objects such asintermediate floors, airport equipment, service kiosks, or the like mayinterfere with a signal path between the ceiling-mounted antenna anduser equipment. As another example, placing antennas on the walls orfloors of the space may result in unattractive or unappealing equipmentplaced within a line of sight of individuals traversing the building. Insome situations, the equipment may attract unwanted attention, such aspersons intentionally or unintentionally tampering with the equipmentfor various reasons.

The inventors have recognized that digital displays are being used inthe environments discussed above with increasing frequency. Some ofthese digital displays, which may be referred to herein as displaypanels, are frequently designed to be slightly taller than an averageadult human, although the overall size of the display panel may rangefrom several inches in height and width to several meters. In someaspects, the display panel may be dimensioned to provide a desirableadvertising effect in which a person may be exposed easily to anadvertising subject. For example, as a person walks toward a departuregate, baggage claim, a store, restaurant, rest room, or otherdestination, products or services advertised on a screen of the digitaldisplay may, because of a placement height of the display panel, beplaced in a direct line of sight of a person as the person. In someaspects, these displays may include an interactive component, inviting aperson to touch one or more portions of the display screen to beentertained temporarily (thus creating a positive association with aproduct or service) or more frequently to receive additional informationabout the product or service being advertised.

Additionally, it has been recognized by the inventors that otherenvironments may include larger digital displays than the display panelsdiscussed above. For example, outdoor environments such as those visibleto vehicles traveling on highways or other roads may include digitaldisplays that are several times larger than an average adult human andpositioned some distance above ground. These larger digital displays maybe referred to herein as “digital billboards” to provide somedistinction between their smaller “display panel” counterparts, thelatter of which may be found more frequently in indoor environments.However, the usage of such nomenclature herein is not intended to limitin anyway the present disclosure, as aspects of the present disclosureare applicable to digital displays regardless of their size. Suchdigital billboards may be mounted on a pole or a vertical columnarstructure. As with the digital panels discussed above, it has beenrecognized by the inventors that digital billboards may provide asuitable environment for placement of radio equipment, either for asmall cell or, in some situations, for a macrocell. This desirabilitymay be because power lines and/or data communication lines may alreadyexist at the installation site to service the digital billboards.

Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus,which includes a digital display device comprising a housing and adigital display. The apparatus also includes a small cell base station,which may include at least one antenna and a radio. The small cell basestation may be mountable on a top surface of the housing. The at leastone antenna and the radio may be surrounded by a fabric radome that mayconceal the at least one antenna and radio from view when the small cellbase station is mounted to the top surface of the housing.

Additional and alternative aspects of the present disclosure provide anapparatus that may include a digital display device that has a mountingstructure and a digital display mounted on the mounting structure. Theapparatus may include a base station, which may include at least oneantenna, at least one radio, and at least one baseband unit each mountedon the mounting structure. The at least one radio and the at least onebaseband unit may be concealed from view by the digital display.

Additional and alternative aspects of the present disclosure provide anapparatus that may include a digital display device, which may include adigital display, and a base station, which may include a radio and atleast one antenna mounted on a surface of the digital display device. Atleast one component of the base station may be concealed from view by aconcealment device. In some aspects, this concealment device may be aradome. In some aspects, this concealment device may be the digitaldisplay.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a front perspective view and a rear perspectiveview, respectively, of a small cell base station according to one ormore aspects.

FIG. 3 illustrates relative dimensions of a small cell base station, adisplay panel device, and an average sized adult human according toaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view of a first small cell base stationaccording to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a plan view of a second small cell base stationaccording to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates relative dimensions of a base station, a digitalbillboard device, and an average sized adult human according to aspectsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates components of a base station at least partiallyconcealed by digital billboard devices according to aspects of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a small cell base station 10 according to one ormore aspects is illustrated. FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective viewof the small cell base station and FIG. 2 illustrates a rear perspectiveview. Each of FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate that the small cell base station10 may be located atop a display panel device 80. FIG. 3 illustrates arendered view of an exemplary sense of scale of the dimensions of thesmall cell base station 10 relative to the dimensions of the displaypanel device 80 and the dimensions of an average sized adult human 90.It is emphasized that such dimensions are exemplary, and the displaypanel device 80 and/or small cell base station 10 may have differentdimensions than those illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the small cell base station 10 may includeone or more antennas 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 that may be mounted oncorresponding mounting structures 30-1, 30-2, and 30-3 within a radome40. Collectively, antennas 20 may have an omni-directional antennapattern in the azimuth plane, meaning that the antenna beam generated bythe one or more antennas 20 may extend through a full 360 degree circlein the azimuth plane. In some aspects, for example where a plurality ofantennas are present, each given antenna 20-n may generate an antennabeam which extends only through an arc portion of a full 360 degreecircle. For example, as will be discussed in greater detail below, whenthree antennas 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 are used, each antenna may have anantenna pattern of one-third of a full 360 degree circle in the azimuthplane, or a beam width of 120 degrees. Each antenna may have a suitablebeamwidth (e.g., 10-30 degrees) in the elevation plane. In some aspects,the antenna beam may be slightly down-tilted in the elevation plane toreduce interference with adjacent base stations. In some aspects, smallcell base station 10 may be a remote unit in a distributed antennasystem (DAS) and the antennas 20-n components thereof.

Mounting structures 30-1, 30-2, and 30-3 may be pole or other columnarmounts on which the antennas may be mounted. Each mounting structure maybe configured to provide for azimuth adjustment of the correspondingantenna 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3. For example, each mounting structure maybe configured to rotate (via motors not illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2)about its longitudinal axis, thereby rotating the corresponding antenna30-1, 30-2, or 30-3 in the azimuth plane. Although FIG. 1 and FIG. 2illustrate that structures 30-n may be columnar antenna mounts, a widevariety of other mounting techniques may be used to mount thecorresponding antenna 20-n within a radome 40. Moreover, although eachantenna 20-n is illustrated as substantially parallel to itscorresponding mount 30-n, in some aspects mechanical downtilt devices(e.g., brackets, adjustments arms, or the like) may be present toprovide a mechanical downtilt adjustment of the antenna. Such mechanicaldowntilt may be in addition to or in the alternative to any electricaldowntilt provided by the antennas, a radio 50 (discussed in detailbelow) and/or other components of small cell base station 10 (e.g.,power splitters/combiners and/or phase shifters not illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2.

The small cell base station 10 may include base station equipment suchas baseband units (not shown) and/or radios 50. These may also bepositioned within the radome 40, though in some aspects they may bepositioned elsewhere and optical fiber or other connections may be usedinstead. For example, in some aspects radio 50 may be located withinradome 40, but in other aspects, radio 50 may be located elsewhere,including within a housing 82 of the display panel device 80. A singleradio 50 is shown in FIG. 1 to simplify the drawing, but more than oneradio 50 may be provided. In some aspects, the radio 50 may be a remoteradio head that is mounted within the radome 40 adjacent the antennas20, and in such aspects the baseband units or equipment may be locatedoutside the radome 40.

As is known to those of skill in the art, a baseband unit (not shown)may receive data from another source such as, for example, a backhaulnetwork (not shown) and may process this data and provide a data streamto the radio 52. The radio 52 may generate RF signals that include thedata encoded therein and may amplify and deliver these RF signals to theantenna 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 for transmission via respective cablingconnections (not shown). In some aspects, a microwave backhaul radio andantenna (not shown) may be included within the small cell base station10. In such aspects, the radome 40 may be able to pass microwave signalsto and from the microwave backhaul antenna and radio. In such aspectscircuitry configured to convert signals between the microwavetransmission path and the cellular transmission paths may be provided,although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The radome 40 may be manufactured from a fabric material, including afabric material especially selected for favorable radio frequencytransmission properties. In some aspects, the radome 40 may be screenprinted with a neutral color and/or with complementary advertising. Insome aspects, the radome 40 may be removable and replaceable withoutdetaching the small cell base station 10 from the display panel, forexample to replace one screen printed radome 40 with a second screenprinted radome 40 during an advertising refresh.

Also within the radome 40 as a component of the small cell base station10 is distribution center 60. In some aspects, distribution center 60may include fiber and power distribution. For example, optical fiberand/or power linkages may be provided to the small cell base station 10including via display panel device 80 (discussed further below). Theoptical fiber and/or power linkages may be integrated within the displaypanel device 80 (e.g., at the time of manufacture) or may be passedthrough an interior portion or channel of the display panel device 80 atthe time of installation of the small cell base station 10 atop thedisplay panel device 80. As another example, which may be usedseparately from or in conjunction with the fiber and power distributionexample, the distribution center 60 may include an alternating current(AC) power and load center. As a third example, which may be usedseparately from or in conjunction with the examples discussed above,distribution center 60 may provide direct current (DC) rectification.Finally, as a fourth example, which may be used separately from or inconjunction with the examples discussed above, distribution center 60may include a battery backup for powering the small cell base station10.

In some aspects, a Global Positioning System (GPS) and/or IndoorPositioning System (IPS) antenna module 70 may be provided within theradome 40 or outside of the radome 40 as required. The GPS/IPS antennamodule 70 may be optional. The GPS/IPS antenna module 70 may provide orrelay signals to assist a user equipment in determining its positionand/or to assist network equipment in determining the position of a userdevice.

As discussed above, illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 is a display panel device80, which may include a display panel 81 within a housing 82. Thedisplay panel 82 may be a display panel, such as an organiclight-emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, anelectrophoretic display panel, an electrowetting display panel, a plasmadisplay panel (PDP) and so on. However, the display panel 82 is notlimited to the aforementioned alternatives and may be implemented invarious ways according to the present disclosure. Housing 82 may includethe display panel 81 and display circuitry (not shown) configured todrive the display panel 81, though this circuitry may be located outsidethe housing at a location relatively local to the display panel 81 orremote from the display panel 81.

In some aspects, the display circuitry may include a processor andmemory. In some aspects, the display circuitry may be configured todrive signals to the display panel via a driving circuit. In someaspects, the display circuitry may receive data representative of animage (which may be a still image or a video image) from an externaldevice and/or memory (including via a wired or wireless network) andconvert or otherwise use the data to display the image on the displaypanel. In some aspects housing 82 may include multiple display panels81, each of which may be configured to display the same image ordifferent images. These display panels may be arranged at variouslocations within the housing 82 and visible through holes or cutouts inthe housing 82. For example, a first display panel 81 may be located ata first surface of housing 82, and a second display panel 81 may belocated at a second surface of housing 82 opposite from the firstdisplay panel 81. As another example, a first display panel 81 may belocated at a first surface of housing 82, and a second display panel 81may be located at a second surface of housing 82 perpendicular from thefirst display panel 81. As a third example, a first display panel 81 maybe located at a first surface of housing 82, and a second display panel81 may be located at the same first surface of housing 82 as the firstdisplay panel 81. Such arrangements are merely exemplary. A displaypanel 81 may be, in some aspects, at least four feet in height and atleast two feet in width, although in other aspects, the display panel 81may be at least six feet in height and at least four feet in width. Suchdimensions are merely exemplary.

Other circuitry dedicated to providing various functionality to theoperation of display panel 81 may be provided, either within housing 82or elsewhere. For example, audio circuitry may be provided, including aspeaker within or near housing 82 to provide sound or other auditoryaccompaniment to visual images displayed on the display panel 81. Insome aspects, display panel 81 may be an interactive display panelconfigured to receive touch or other input from a passerby viainteracting circuitry and launch or otherwise enable an interactivesession with the passerby. Such functionality may enable the passerby tolearn more about a product or service being advertised on the displaypanel 81.

The dimensions of the small cell base station 10 may be selected to becompatible with existing display panels that are installed in variouslocations. In some aspects, at least a portion of the small cell basestation 10 may be concealed from view by one or more concealmentdevices, which in this case may be either the display panel device 80and/or radome 40. In some aspects, some components of the small cellbase station 10 may be concealed within display panel device 80 andcomponents of the small cell base station 10 may be concealed by radome40. For example, antennas 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3, and their correspondingmounting structures 30-1, 30-2, and 30-3 may be concealed within theradome 40, and radio 50 may be concealed by display panel device 80. Asused herein, “concealed” or “concealed from view” may include theshielding of an a device or component, including its electricalcomponents and any housing surrounding such electrical components, fromview by an observer.

The small cell base station 10 of FIG. 1 may include various otherequipment such as, for example, a power supply, back-up batteries, apower bus, Antenna Interface Signal Group (“AISG”) controllers and thelike that are not illustrated in FIG. 1. In some aspects, these may belocated within the housing 82 of the display panel device 80, althoughin some aspects, the small cell base station 10 may be installed as aretro-fit module and/or as an add-on module atop an already installeddisplay panel device 80. In such aspects, the small cell base station 10may be configured to receive operational power from the display paneldevice 80 (for example, via a power port installed or located on a topsurface of the display panel device 80). In other words, in someaspects, the display panel device 80 and the small cell base station 10may be powered in common, and the display panel device 80 may act as apass-through to empower the small cell base station 10.

FIG. 4 illustrates a first plan view of a small cell base station 11according to aspects of the present disclosure. It may be seen in FIG. 4that, in a first arrangement, the small cell base station 11 may includeantennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3, which may be the same as those discussedabove with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2. In other words, antennas 21-1,21-2, and 21-3 may be the same as antennas 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3discussed above and small cell base station 11 may be the same as smallcell base station 10 discussed above.

As discussed above, in some aspects, omni-directional antenna beams maybe desired as they may provide coverage of relatively uniform gainwithin a geographical area serviced by the small cell base station. Toprovide such coverage, in some aspects, multiple antennas (e.g.,antennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3) may be used, and each antenna maygenerate antenna beams that are directed into a portion of thegeographical area. For example, when three antennas are used, eachantenna may have an antenna pattern of one third of a full 360 degreecircle in the azimuth plane, or a beam width of 120 degrees.

In some aspects, the area within a radome 41 of the small cell basestation 11 may be constrained by external dimensions, for example thewidth and thickness (e.g., the footprint) of a display panel device 80on which the small cell base station 11 is mounted. It may be desirablefor a footprint of the small cell base station 11 to be smaller than afootprint of the display panel to conceal or otherwise limit thevisibility of the small cell base station mounted 11 at the top of thedisplay panel device 80.

Therefore, in some aspects, internal dimensions of the small cell basestation may be constrained, and it follows may not be possible to mountantennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 to provide the omni-directional antennabeams discussed above. For example, the dimensions and placement ofradio 51 and distribution center 61 within radome 41 may limit thenumber and placement of antennas within the radome, including limitingthe number and placement of antennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 to that shownin FIG. 4.

The antennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 may provide, in lieu of uniformomni-directional antenna coverage, a quasi-omni directional coveragearea where antenna beams are generated by a plurality of antennas thatcover a full 360 degrees surrounding the small cell base station 11. InFIG. 4, arrows 300-1, 300-2, and 300-3 may represent directions ofantenna beams that radiate from respective antennas 21-1, 21-2, and21-3. These antenna beams may provide a “quasi-omni” directional patternin the azimuth plane generated by the antennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3.

In some aspects, gain of the generated antenna beams may be variableacross the 360 degrees in the azimuth plane, although in some aspects,the gain of the generated antenna beams may be nearly constant throughusage of other gain-adjusting devices or techniques. For example, thethree antennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 may be configured independently ofeach other (e.g., different apertures, different number or spacing ofradiating elements or dipoles within the anntenas, or adjustment ofother configurable components to increase power or current density) toprovide a selected gain from each of antennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 orthe collective output of antennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 taken together.In some aspects, the three antennas 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 may beidentical antennas configured identically, and gain in some areas of thesmall cell may be lower than gain in other areas of the small cell, withthe understanding that other local antennas in a distributed antennasystem, and/or a macro cell serving the area in common with the smallcell, may make up any necessary or desired difference. In some aspects,other components of the small cell base station 11, such as combiners(not shown) may operate to provide a full coverage quasi-omni antenna.

FIG. 5 illustrates a plan view of a second small cell base station 12,according to aspects of the present disclosure. In contrast to the firstsmall cell base station 11 discussed above with respect to FIG. 4, thesmall cell base station 12 illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a first radio52 and a second radio 53. Instead of the three antennas shown above, twoantennas 22-1 and 22-2 are provided. These antennas may be arranged suchthat they provide back-to-back dual sector coverage (e.g., each antennamay provide approximately 180 degrees of coverage within a geographicalarea serviced by the small cell base station 12.) First antenna 22-1 maybe coupled to first radio 52 and second radio 53 may be coupled tosecond antenna 22-2. Such coupling and deployment of one radio perantenna may provide increased gain and allow for frequency reallocationbetween a first sector (illustrated by arrow 400-1) and a second sector(illustrated by arrow 400-2).

As discussed above, other environments than those previously discussedmay include larger digital displays referred to herein as “digitalbillboards.” These environments may include outdoor environments such asthose visible to vehicles traveling on highways or other roads. FIG. 6illustrates a rendered view of two digital billboard devices 680 andprovides an exemplary comparison in dimensions of the digital billboarddevices 680 and an average adult human 90. As may be seen, the digitalbillboard devices 680 may include digital displays 682 (of which onlyone is visible in FIG. 6) that are several times larger than the averageadult human 90 and that are positioned some distance above ground. Thedigital billboard devices 680 may be mounted on a columnar mount,vertical pole, or the like, as demonstrated by mounting structure 630.

In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, illustrated inFIG. 6 and in FIG. 7 are components of a base station 610. FIG. 7illustrates the base station 610 and mounting structure 630, with thedigital billboard devices 680 removed for clarity in understanding thatwhich is concealed by the digital billboard devices. As with the smallcell base station 10 discussed above with reference to FIG. 7, at leasta portion of the base station 610 is concealed by a concealment device,which in the case of the base station 610 are the digital billboarddevices 680 themselves.

The base station 610 may include an antenna module 620, which may insome aspects include a concealed antenna module. The antenna module 620may include one or more antennas, which collectively may have anomni-directional antenna pattern in the azimuth plane, meaning that theantenna beam generated by the one or more antennas of antenna module 620may extend through a full 360 degree circle in the azimuth plane. Insome aspects, for example where a plurality of antennas are present,each given antenna may generate an antenna beam which extends onlythrough an arc portion of a full 360 degree circle. For example, whenthree antennas are used, each antenna may have an antenna pattern ofone-third of a full 360 degree circle in the azimuth plane, or a beamwidth of 120 degrees. Each antenna may have a suitable beamwidth (e.g.,10-30 degrees) in the elevation plane. In some aspects, the antenna beammay be slightly down-tilted in the elevation plane to reduceinterference with adjacent base stations. The antenna module may bemounted at the top of the mounting structure 630. As with the antennasdiscussed above with respect to FIG. 1, although the antenna module 620is illustrated as coaxial with the mounting structure 630, in someaspects, mechanical downtilt devices may be used to angle one or more ofthe antennas of the antenna module 620 to provide downtilt.

The base station 610 may also include a radio 650. Although illustratedas a single device, in some aspects multiple devices may be used. Thisradio 650 may include base station equipment such as a radio, but mayalso include power and optical fiber components. In some aspects, theradio 650 may include a radio/power/fiber module. A single radio 650 isshown in FIG. 7 to simplify the drawing, but more than one radio may beprovided. In some aspects, the radio 650 may be a remote radio head thatis mounted on mounting structure 630.

The radio 650 may communicate (via optical fibers, coaxial cables, orthe like) with a baseband unit 660. In some aspects, the baseband unit660 may be mounted to the mounting structure 630. Such a configurationmay be referred to as a “zero footprint” configuration, because theantenna module, radio, and baseband unit are each mounted to mountingstructure 630. The baseband unit 660 may send and receive data to andfrom another source such as, for example, a backhaul network (not shown)and may process this data and provide a data stream to the radio 650.The radio 650 may generate RF signals that include the data encodedtherein and may amplify and deliver these RF signals to the antennamodule for transmission via respective cabling connections (not shown).

In some aspects, a microwave backhaul radio and antenna (not shown) maybe included within the base station 610. In such aspects circuitryconfigured to convert signals between the microwave transmission pathand the cellular transmission paths may be provided, although not shownin FIG. 7.

The small cell base station 610 of FIG. 7 may include various otherequipment such as, for example, a power supply, back-up batteries, apower bus, Antenna Interface Signal Group (“AISG”) controllers and thelike which are not illustrated in FIG. 7. In some aspects, these may bemounted at various locations on mounting structure 630, or may belocated within baseband unit 660 (which may include a cabinet). In someaspects, the base station 610 may be installed as a retro-fit moduleand/or as an add-on module atop an already installed digital billboarddevice 680. In such aspects, that the base station 610 may be configuredto receive operational power from the digital billboard devices 680 (forexample, via a power connection available from mounting structure 630and/or digital billboard device 680). In other words, in some aspects,the digital billboard devices 680 and the base station 610 may bepowered in common, and the digital billboard devices 680 may act as apass-through to empower the base station 610. The base station 610 maybe a small cell base station, macrocell base station, or other basestation. A digital billboard device 680 may be, in some aspects, atleast ten feet in height and at least thirty feet in width, although inother aspects, the display panel 681 may be at least fourteen feet inheight and at least forty-eight feet in width. Such dimensions aremerely exemplary.

Aspects of the present disclosure have been described above withreference to the accompanying drawings. The present disclosure is notlimited to the illustrated embodiments; rather, these embodiments areintended to fully and completely convey to those skilled in this art howto make and use the teachings of the present disclosure. In thedrawings, like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Thicknessesand dimensions of some elements may not be to scale.

Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”,“upper”, “top”, “bottom” and the like, may be used herein for ease ofdescription to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will beunderstood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompassdifferent orientations of devices described herein in use or operationin addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, ifa device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “under” or“beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” theother elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “under” canencompass both an orientation of over and under. The device may beotherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and thespatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail forbrevity and/or clarity. As used herein the expression “and/or” includesany and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. maybe used herein to describe various elements, these elements should notbe limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish oneelement from another. For example, a first element could be termed asecond element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a firstelement, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a digital display devicecomprising a mounting structure and a digital display mounted on themounting structure; and a base station comprising at least one antenna,at least one radio, and at least one baseband unit each mounted on themounting structure, wherein the at least one radio and the at least onebaseband unit are concealed from view by the digital display.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the digital display mounted on themounting structure comprises a first digital display mounted on a firstside of the mounting structure and a second digital display mounted on asecond side of the mounting structure, the first digital display and thesecond digital display positioned to conceal the at least one radio andthe at least one baseband unit from view.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the first digital display comprises a dimension of at least tenfeet.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one antennacomprises a plurality of antennas arranged to provide a quasi-omnidirectional antenna beam in an azimuth plane.
 5. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the at least one antenna comprises a first antenna, a secondantenna, and a third antenna.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theradio comprises a first radio and a second radio, and wherein the atleast one antenna comprises a first antenna coupled to the first radioand a second antenna coupled to the second radio, and wherein the firstantenna and the second antenna are arranged to provide back-to-backsectorial coverage in an azimuth plane.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the digital display comprises a dimension of at leastforty-eight feet.
 8. An apparatus comprising: a digital display devicecomprising a digital display; and a base station comprising a radio andat least one antenna mounted on a surface of the digital display device,wherein at least one component of the base station is concealed fromview by a concealment device.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein theconcealment device comprises a radome that is dimensioned to concealfrom view the radio and the least one antenna.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 9, wherein the at least one antenna comprises a plurality ofantennas arranged to provide a quasi-omni directional antenna beam in anazimuth plane.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the concealmentdevice is the digital display, said digital display being dimensioned toconceal from view the radio and the least one antenna.
 12. The apparatusof claim 8, wherein the antenna is mounted on an exterior surface of thehousing.
 13. An apparatus comprising: a display device comprising ahousing and an advertising display; and a small cell base stationcomprising at least one antenna and a radio; wherein the small cell basestation is mounted to the housing; and wherein the radio and antenna areconcealed from view when the small cell base station is mounted to thehousing.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the advertising displayis an electrically-powered advertising display.
 15. An apparatuscomprising: a display device comprising a housing and an advertisingdisplay; and a small cell base station comprising at least one antenna,a power distribution center, and a radio; wherein the small cell basestation is mounted to the housing; and wherein the radio, powerdistribution center and antenna are concealed from view when the smallcell base station is mounted to the housing.
 16. The apparatus of claim15, wherein the advertising display is an electrically-poweredadvertising display and is connected to the power distribution center.17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the power distribution centercomprises optical fiber connected with the radio.
 18. An apparatuscomprising: a display device comprising a housing, an advertisingdisplay and a radome; and a small cell base station comprising at leastone antenna and a radio; wherein the small cell base station is mountedto the housing; and wherein the radio is concealed from view by theadvertising display and the antenna is concealed from view by the radomewhen the small cell base station is mounted to the housing.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the radome is adjacent the housing. 20.An apparatus comprising: a display device comprising a housing and firstand second advertising display panels positioned on opposite sides ofthe housing; and a small cell base station comprising at least oneantenna and a radio; wherein the radio is mounted within the housingbetween the first and second advertising display panels; and wherein theradio and antenna are concealed from view.